WASHINGTON – The United States is deploying its aircraft carrier strikegroup near Iran to send message to Iran, US national security adviser JohnBolton said.
US national security adviser John Bolton said on Sunday that the UnitedStates is deploying a carrier strike group and a bomber task force to theMiddle Eastern region to send a clear message to Iran that any attackon Washington’s interests or its allies will be met with an “unrelentingforce”.
John Bolton also stressed that Washington is not seeking war with Iranbut ready to respond to any attack from Tehran.
“In response to a number of troubling and escalatory indications andwarnings, the United States is deploying the USS Abraham Lincoln CarrierStrike Group and a bomber task force to the US Central Command regionto send a clear and unmistakable message to the Iranian regime that anyattack on United States interests or on those of our allies will be metwith unrelenting force,” the statement said.
United States Central Command is present in the Middle East, includingEgypt in Africa, and Central Asia, notably Afghanistan and Iraq. Its forcesare active participants of many military campaigns in the region.
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Long-standing tense relations between Iran and the United States took aturn for the worse in May 2018, after Washington unilaterally withdrewfrom the Iran nuclear deal. Since then, the US has slapped Iranwith multiple rounds of tough sanctions, including energy restrictionsaimed at bringing Iran’s oil exports down “to zero” to cripple thecountry’s economy.
Iran has warned that any direct effort by the US or any other countryto stop the country from exporting its oil could lead to a closure of theStrait of Hormuz, the strategic waterway through which about 20 per centof the world’s total oil supplies pass. -Sputnik
